Flip open any comic book and you’ll find a story of overcoming the odds. Whether it’s a web-slinger seeking to make his way in the world, a caped crusader intent on making his city a better place, or a mutant who has to deal with human hate, comic books have always been a beacon of hope for the underdogs of this world. But perhaps the greatest comic book story ever told is that of the books themselves…
…Today, comic books command a seat at pop culture’s table. They rule the box office and television screens. But most of all, from Superman to Sex Criminals, they’re still places where the greatest stories are being told. Here are 50 comic books that explain the vast history, how certain books shaped the medium, and the state of comics today…READ MORE: 50 comic books that explain comic books today | Vox
Marie Wilcox is the last fluent speaker of Wukchumni, one of 130 different endangered Native American languages in the United States that dont have any kind of digital—or analog—legacy.
Over the course of seven years in Californias San Joaquin Valley, she worked with her daughter and grandson to catalog everything she knows about the language. First, she hand-scrawled memories on scraps of paper; then, she hunt-and-pecked on an old keyboard to complete a dictionary and type out legends like “How We Got Our Hands.” Next, she recorded the whole thing on audio for pronunciation—its very specific!—and posterity.
Forget a thousand monkeys at a thousand typewriters, researchers have created a computer program that writes fables by itself.
It might be a long way from “A Tale of Two Cities”, but researchers at Australia’s University of New South Wales have developed a computer program that is capable of writing its own fables.
The Moral Storytelling System, known as MOSS, has been developed by Margaret Sarlej, a PhD candidate at the School of Computer Science and Engineering at UNSW, led by Australian Research Fellow and artificial intelligence expert Dr Malcolm Ryan.
While humans are capable of creating simple or complex stories without a second thought, Sarlej said this is a skill that computers can’t easily emulate.
When the Best Books of 2013 are listed, the most important may not make the cut. Thats because the most exciting literary innovation of the year is not a book at all, but a video game for iPad and iPhone. Device 6 is a metaphysical thriller in which the world is made almost entirely from words. Playing it is like reading a book—except, in this book, the words veer off in unexpected directions, rather than progressing in orderly fashion down the page. When Anna, the game’s protagonist, turns a corner in the narrative, the text does too, swerving off to one side at a right angle, forcing the player to rotate the screen.
The LA Times Trolls Innocent Teachers | TechCrunch
The once-respectable LA Times is leveraging its dwindling platform to attack individual teachers under the guise of data transparency. The editorial board won a court case allowing them to use a highly contentious, self-designed algorithm to rank the best and worst teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Neither the suicide of one of the shamed teachers, nor the widespread criticism of the statistical methods have aroused the editorial board’s better judgment.
Ramona Pringle’s life was like a sitcom — one of those cheesy, too-good-to-be-true shows about finding love and success in the big city.
She had a good job at Frontline; a number of smart, successful friends; and a boyfriend — “a fantastic one!” — whom she planned to marry. Things were perfect.
With a quick roll of the dice, though, everything changed. Her mother was diagnosed with a life-changing illness, and Pringle left her job in New York and moved back home to Toronto to take care of her. A week later, Pringle’s boyfriend broke up with her.
The dream, the city, the perfect life — gone in a flash.
“It was absolute rock bottom,” she says. ” Here I was, back in my childhood bedroom — and it was so quiet. It was so eerily quiet Here I was, back in my childhood bedroom — and it was so quiet. It was so eerily quiet.”
It was the type of situation in which some might turn to alcohol, drugs or even religion to cope. Pringle was looking for some kind — any kind — of answer. But her mother was sick, and she needed to be with her. Leaving wasn’t an option.
“People get these ‘pilgrimage moments,’ you know? When something happens to them and they trek across Europe or India in search of some kind of wisdom,” she says. “I couldn’t do that.”
Instead, she turned to the virtual realm of World of Warcraft (WoW), where she found an unexpected community of support and camaraderie. She was so inspired that she went to work on an interactive documentary, Avatar Secrets, about the lessons she learned. It’s set to be released in the spring of 2014.
A really inspiring story. I think many of us can empathize with her dramatic change in circumstances directing her life down a completely different path. The content above is only half the story…read more following the link: How One Woman Grappled With Grief Through Gaming | Mashable.
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